Just wondering how many of you refill your own ink cartridges. What are the easiest printers/cartridges to refill? I have an old Epson Stylus Color 600 that I got at Goodwill for $5. It works great and refilling the ink cartridges is so easy. I get an 8oz bottle for $12.50 and it lasts me about a year. This printer just keeps churning out page after page effortlessly with refilled ink. Another thing I like about this printer is it will print on just about anything you stick in it. I had a $250 HP OfficeJet that used to make me pull my hair out. If it didn't like the paper thickness, it would refuse to print. It could think up every reason imagineable why it didn't want to print. I could refill the ink cartridges, but it was more difficult and I usually only got about 3 uses out of each one before the on-board electronics burned out or the print heads went bad. It gives me great joy to know that it lies buried somewhere in the Johnston County landfill crushed into little tiny pieces. :twisted:
JC~ I used to, but my current printer makes it hard. We ruined my DH's old printer doing it, lol. He wanted to refill color. I only wanted to refill the black. The black was fine. Refilling the color really messed up his printer. 'Course, it was o-l-d. Frogger
First color laser printer and at $80 per cartrige, with 4 cartrigies it is just a tad expensive. Anybody here refill their own toner cartridges?
I've been refilling my ink for at least 6 years now. If you want a good deal, right now WalMart has box ink kits on clearance for $5. Both color and black. Comes with all the tools and an instruction book for all styles. I bought 10, and I have enough ink now for a whole year for less than the price of one black and one color cartridge. Refilling can be a disaster if you don't learn about your cartridge first. Some need the ink well open, some need it closed, some need a vacumn in the well, ...etc. Just Google for "how to refill a cartridge" and you'll find the answers on your specific printer. Filling toners are 10 times easier than ink. You do need a hole maker & plugs though. But once you've bought those your set. You can make your own hole maker from a $2 soldering iron. Bulk Toners sell for around $20 black and $38 color.
ddrdan...Is the re-fill ink as good as the original? My HP printer uses 6 cartridges and the print quality from the ink is awesome and I wouldn't want to lose that.
LMAO. Here it takes about 6-8 weeks. A lot of printing going on. We never replaced my DH's cartridge because his would dry out from lack of printing. He's just networked into mine now. Frogger
When my printer was right next to the computer I would print like mad. I have moved it to the back of the house and now I only print what I need.
The ink composition of those cheap WalMart kits will not match all manuafacturers. I should have been more specific when I mentioned them. But in general use, the black will "make do" for almost any printer. High end graphics and photos won't do well on these inks unless you "hit the lotto" and they match your ink composition. Race, Ink "quality", that's a long topic!!!! It's actually not "quality" your looking for, it's "composition". After buying an inkjet printer that ate $55 catridges at 2 per month I did some research on the ink inside those cartridges. I was determined to find a way around that cost. Inkjet printer black inks are basically comprised of water, diethylene glycol and pigmentation. Carbon is widely used by all for black pigmentation. Colors are where the printer manufacturers get proprietary and specific on composition. The way I found the ink composition on my HP printer was to look up the MSDS (material safety data sheets, required by law) on their website. Here's all HP inks: http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/environment/productdata/ijmsdsuseng.html And the good part is; "They (HP) don't make the ink, they buy it." And, if they buy it, so can you. The MSDS gave me the data to verify the compatability of what I was about to buy fron a bulk ink sales company. You can buy a quart of black ink for any printer, matched perfectly, for around $40. That's 20 refills!! Quarts of colors run about $45. Don't buy more than you can use in 2 years time. You can also buy pints. Stored for longer time and improperly the ink seperates and is useless. Here is where I buy mine from: http://www.oddparts.com/ink/Welcome.html They also have a link that explains, in detail, the refill of any cartridge made today. You'll find cheaper prices but when you call this guy you get the owner and knowledgable answers. Some tips on refilling. (These are all "been there; done that" instances) 1. If you've let the catridge run dry, your screwed, throw it away or spend 3 hours reconditioning it. Refill on a steady basis before running dry. Your printer actually heats the ink to print. When the cartridge gets real low it cooks the ink to a solid. Do an ink test page on the printer to evaluate the color cartridge. If you have one or more colors that do not print "at all", that jet is cooked. If you get a little from all colors you have a chance. 2. Don't go overboard on filling, thinking your adding longevity to how much printing you will get from a fill. Underfilling is the wiser choice. 3. Don't fill it and then immeadiatly put it in the printer!! Let it sit and adjust in pressure and temperature for about 1 hour. Hold a folded paper towel against the jets to blot the ink for at least 15 seconds before putting it in the printer. 4. Your going to have to print around 5 to 8 test pages to get the cartridge working right. Be patient, it will adjust. 5. Your going to spill and drip ink, it's inevitable. Don't do this on the kitchen counter or your desk without something to protect them. My wife is really pissed about the unremovable stain on our kitchen counter. I'm never going to hear the end of that one. HEY!!! It was close to the sink???
dan, what kind of counter do you have? If it's veneer (sp?), got a solution for ya. Do this when you know your wife will be out of the house for at least 6 hours. Surprise her! Get the Oxyclean or Clorox brand oxy powder. I've used others but these are the two I know work for this situation. Make a thick paste and rub it on the ink spot. Heck, make enough for the counter if you'd like. Let it sit for a few hours (yes, hours), them re-wet and clean off. Stain is gone! The secret is to use hot, hot, hot water when making the paste and hot water when removing. It may take doing it twice, and it'll take some elbow grease, but I got the ink (large stain) off of mine too. The worst I've ever had was when I had to leave it on the counters over night. It was a pain to get off the next day but the counters were, literally, spotless! Hint: my counters were off-white. If yours are a color, do this on a small spot that's under the microwave or something. A little test spot to make sure the color isn't affected. Shouldn't be, but you never know. Now, back to PC trouble :lol: Frogger
Thanks Frogger, I'm going to git it a try today. It's gray/stone formica so I'm going to do the test first. Just my luck, I'd try to clean the stain and she'd come home to this huge white spot on her counter :lol: :lol: :lol:
Good luck! Let me know if it works on your counters. It *should*, but a test spot would be prudent :wink: .
first, there is not generic toner. toner is make to melt at a certain temp. if the temp is to low or to high it can damage the fuser in your laser printer. and now the OEMs are using a polyester based toner. the drum in the toner cartridge takes most of the wear. granted it may be good for 2 cycles but you are giving up print quality. also there are rubber blades in the cart that dry out and get hard/brittle. so they dont work as good. if you want to save money buy a quality remanufactured toner cartridge. ( cheap plug-in ) my business partner and i own a company that does such thing. we give you a 100% guarantee on everything we sell and will deliver.
Well you got my curiosity up, I have another round of toner replacement coming up within the next couple of months at $200 a set that gets a little steep! Will you post contact info or PM me Thanks Hught
